Hi David,

I saw a question on the Beotalk podcast this weekend about integrating a non B&O TV with existing and older generation B&O speakers in setup a 5.1 surround sound setup. Michael mentioned my setup using the Almando Box so I thought I'd write a review of my experiences.

Background:

 In 2016 I was after a new OLED TV and there were a few players in the game namely LGs B6, C6, E6 and G6.  I then found another premium option offered by Loewe, the German company who was the first to invent the TV and often played second fiddle to B&O in terms of Style, Features and integrations with speakers. I fell in love with the design of the Bild 7.55 with its moving screen that raised to reveal a 120-watt sound bar. At £4500 it wasn't cheap but certainly cheaper than the Beovision Eclipse which at £8300 plus without a stand seemed expensive. My Loewe TV has custom panels from LG and used Loewe picture processing, has full use Bluetooth, Motorised Stand, moving curtains, a HDD included and a few other things the Eclipse doesn't from a Picture and features point of view.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Almando, B&O or any other company mentioned here I am simply an AV enthusiast who wanted to Mix B&O speakers with a non B&O TV.

Pricing: All pricing is Based on UK GBP and based on buying the items NEW.

Review and Feedback:

Below is a review of the Almando Surround Switch for Loewe TV's which connects via Loewe's Digital Audio Link (DAL). I've had two versions of the Almando Box the WiSA and non WiSA box. The other unit Almando sells called the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder connects via HDMI ARC and works in a very similar way except it doesn't come in a WiSA option.

My Setup:

TV: Loewe Bild 7.55 OLED (Calibrated to Broadcast & Movie Standards)

FRONTS: Beolab 50's Connected Wireless via WISA

REAR: Beolab 18s Connected Wireless via WISA

Centre: Bild7.55 Centre Speaker 120 Watts

AV Sources: Oppo 205 4k Blu-ray Player, Apple TV 4K.

Sound Bridge:  Almando Surround Switch WISA version & non WISA version

Other Sound Bridges in my cupboard: Klipcsh Wireless HD, B&O Transmitter 1

I also used the Almando Box when I had two pairs of Beolab 18's for front speakers and a pair of 18s for the rear and also a Beolab 19 for the Subwoofer, after getting the Beolab 50's I sold my Beolab 19 Subwoofer as it wasn't required. Consider the below a review of the Almando Boxes which so far I haven't seen online. For a start there two main versions of the Almando Box.

Almando App:

Almando have their own app available for IOS and Android. Originally there was only an Android up but later on they created an IOs version. I took park in testing the IOS version of the app in April 2018. The App is gives you access to all the Almando boxes features and setup options. You get options to setup speakers, inputs, speaker configurations. You also get access to optimisations such as speaker Distances, Volume, Gain, Bass, Treble, Lip-sync, Loudness etc.  The same app used for the Almando Surround Decoder and the Almando Surround Switch.

Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder:

 This is the probably the one sold to most customers as they can be used by any TV via HDMI and costs 899 Euros. This unit has a 5.1 surround Decoder built in. There is also no remote which is a good thing as you can control the volume using the TV remote which is a nice feature. You can steam music directly from devices that have Bluetooth or input audio from the optical or RCA connections at the back.

You can connect the Almando in a hardwired fashion to any older generation B&O speaker such as the Beolab 5, 3, 8000, 4000 etc. using an Ethernet cable which then connects physically to the speakers using a DIN to Ethernet adapter. These converter cables are sold by Almando or 3^rd parties around Europe. This relatively small box comes in a white or black box option is a very light.

There is no built in WiSA option so all speakers must be connected via Ethernet. If you want to make the older speaker connect via WiSA you will need to buy a B&O transmitter 1 and a receiver 1 for every speaker, you wish to connect Wirelessly. If you want to connect older speakers that use the DIN connector you will again need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately.

A great bonus is you can also connect older B&O AV equipment that connect via 8Pin DIN like the Beosound 9000

Link to product: https://almando.com/index.php/almando-multiplay-surround-decoder.html

Product Manual (English): https://almando.com/media/documents/almando-multiplay-surround-decoder_en.pdf to see all connection options

Disadvantages: 

• The price is high at 899 Euros & NO WISA option is currently available  

• If you want a 5.1 WISA setup using non WiSA enabled products the costs get higher as you need to buy a B&O WiSA Transmitter 1 (£385 New) and a number of Receiver 1's. So for example using a Pair of Beolab 5's for the fronts and a pair of Beolab 3's as rears will require two Receiver 1's for the rears. (£199 Euros x 2 NEW), four DIN to Ethernet cable adapters (£20 Euros x 4), CAT 7 cables to run wire from the Almando box to the speakers £70 -£150 depending on the lengths required. TOTAL SPEND = £1013 or £1798 including the cost of the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder (£785) and excluding any installation costs.

• You are not able to use the TVs sound bar as the Centre speaker as all speakers need to be connected to the Almando Box for 5.1 Surround.

• If you want to connect older speaker that use the DIN connector you will again need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately.

• You will need additional space for the Transmitter 1 which takes away the clean and simple look. Also the Receiver 1's connected to non WiSA enables speakers will have to be hidden or hang off the back of the speakers.  

• No option for 7.1 or above setups and there is no multi-room option. There is no support for Dolby Atmos or DTS-X as expected.

• Also when I tried to connect an optical into the Almando from my Oppo Blu-ray player the sound comes out at MAX volume. I tried reducing the volume on the Oppo Blu-ray player and the Almando (via the App) but no luck so far. Checking the Almando manual you can only connect volume-controllable optical output devices like a Apple Airport Express, Google Chromecast Audio, Sonos etc

   

Almando Multiplay Surround Switch: Loewe TV's ONLY:

The second version of the Almando Box is made for just Loewe TVs that have a Digital Audio Link port. I believe this option is cheaper as the unit relies on the 5.1 Decoder from the Loewe TV which decodes Dolby Digital and DTS codecs internally.

 The Almando Switch comes with the option of having a WISA chip built in for 899 Euros and a non WISA option which is cheaper 699 Euros. I've had both of these devices.  If you pay an extra 200 Euros you can have the version with integrated WiSA for newer generation speakers such as the Beolab 17, 18, 19, 20 & 50's. I would buy this for WiSA speakers as it is cheaper than buying a separate Transmitter 1 which costs £349 in the UK.

Again there no remote required which is a good thing as you can control the volume using the TV remote which is a nice feature. You can steam music directly from devices that have Bluetooth or input audio from the optical or RCA connections at the back.

To connect to this unit simply take an Ethernet cable and connect one end to the DAL port located behind Loewe Bild TV with the other end connecting to the Almando Surround Switch. Some of the older Loewe TV's don't have a DAL port and you will need to buy a converter cable from Almando.   

This relatively small box comes in a white or black box option is a very light. If you want to connect older speaker that use the old DIN connector you will still need a DIN to Ethernet cable adapters sold separately. Again you can also connect older B&O AV equipment that connect via 8Pin DIN like the Beosound 9000.

Another advantage for this option offered to Loewe TV's is the ability to use the TV's speaker as a centre which is great. The Loewe Bild 7's also has a comprehensive audio menu's solution to set distances, Gain, Volume, Frequency responses etc so I don't need to use the Almando App for that. For my setup I don't need to use these options this as the Loewe Bild 7 already gives me these options.

Link to Product:  https://almando.com/index.php/almando-multiplay-surround-powerlink-switch.html

Link to Manual (German Only): https://almando.com/media/documents/almando-multiplay-surround-switch_en.pdf

Disadvantages: 

• BEOLAB 50's Wear and Tear on the Acoustic Lenses. The biggest issue I have encountered is that the Almando Surround Switch turns off the speakers after a short interval of 1 - 2 minutes if no audio is detected the TV or Bluetooth source. This won't be a problem for most speakers outside the 50's (and maybe the 90's is they have moving parts) as they don't have mechanical moving parts but for me, the 50's acoustic lens is endlessly moving up and down allot during the day and I worry about the mechanism will wearing out causing my speaker to require servicing more often and frankly its annoying. I have fed back this issue to the Almando team twice in the last 6 months but this has not been addressed. I'm pretty sure this can be fixed with a firmware update that gives me the option to set a time delay for when the speakers go off after not detecting any sound. The official B&O Transmitter 1 has a 15/30 minutes' timer for turning off speakers if the unit doesn't detect any sounds. Due to this reason alone I will be going back to using the B&O Transmitter 1 WITH an Almando surround Switch which does work but annoying as I have yet another AV device in my setup. The main reason I sent for the WISA version was for a one box solution but sadly here Almando has failed on that front.

• The Cost is still relatively high at 699 Euros without for the version without WISA or 899 Euros with WISA.

• You still need to buy DIN to Ethernet adapters for older speakers and Receiver 1's for Non WiSA enabled speakers

• You can't use this box as its designed only for Loewe TVs but it has better value in my opinion ONLY IF you buy a Loewe TV.

• You will need additional space for the Transmitter 1 which takes away the clean and simple look. Also the Receiver 1's connected to non WiSA enables speakers will have to be hidden or hang off the back of the speakers.  

• No option for 7.1 or above setups and there is no multi-room option. There is no support for Dolby Atmos or DTS-X as expected.

• Also when I tried to connect an optical into the Almando from my Oppo Blu-ray player the sound comes out at MAX volume. I tried reducing the volume on the Oppo Blu-ray player and the Almando (via the App) but no luck so far. Checking the Almando manual you can only connect volume-controllable optical output devices like a Apple Airport Express, Google Chromecast Audio, Sonos etc

• Weirdly There is no English version of the manual according to Almando so they recommend using the version for the Almando Surround Decoder.

• Not really a disadvantage but Loew TVs has all the same options to control Distance, Volume, Gains, Bass, Treble, Lip-sync, Loudness etc. and more. These options are also on the Almando so the question is - WHICH DEVICE SHOULD I USE TO SET THE AUDIO PARAMETERS??  I'm using the Loewe TV personally but not sure how much the Almando Colours the audio with its own audio processing even when all settings are off. This is not an issue for the Almando Multiplay Surround Decoder

Other connection options I've tried or are aware of WISA only

Klipcsh Wireless HD box - This was made to power the Klipsch Wireless Home Speaker System but will work with any B&O speaker connected via the Transmitter 1, except Beolab 5'. Here you connect the TV via the HDMI input on the unit and all other sources such as Blu-ray players, Games consoles etc. to the other HDMI Ports.  The unit comes with a small remote to change volume and the sources. The unit also supports Bluetooth streaming.

Disadvantages: I have this unit and regret buying it as the WISA is very unreliable. The unit also does not support HDR pass through The unit takes 2-3 minutes to start up every time you turn it on. They are made in the US hard to find in European countries.

Axim Q WiSA wireless AVR - Another HDMI based unit that has built in WISA but no way to hardwire the Beolab 5' but you are able to connect the Beolab 17's, 18's 19's, 20's and any old B&O speaker such as the Beolab 3's as you can use B&O receiver 1's to connect them. I think these are $999 US dollars.

Disadvantage: You are not able to connect Beolab 5's to the unit. I'm not sure if there are other disadvantages as I don't own one.

Final Thoughts

If you want to buy a non B&O TV and use B&O Speakers, consider the options above but for me I found the Almando offered best integration solution. You can easily connect the old and new speakers using CAT 7 cables and WiSA except the aforementioned Beolab 5's. The App is great and the units almost have some of the same functionality of the Beosound core. The price is a bit on the high side and you only get up to 5.1 Surround. Almando seem to have a well thought out approach except for the issues I mentioned above, the key one being the issue for Beolab 50 owners.

Knowing what I know now maybe I would have Bought or taken the BEOVISION Eclipse as a serious option back in 2017 for ease of use, simplicity and sound options. At the time I thought I was saving some money on the Loewe but with the money I spent on the Almando and cables I probably would now have considered the Eclipse.

In 2017 The "B&O Tax" would only be about £2000 extra which is not bad to me for the elegance, simplicity, speaker profiles, multi-room, Beoremote one and general B&O'ness. Although from a pure picture point of view the Loewe beats the Eclipse the eclipse used a regular C7 OLED from LG paired with a great design and sound station.

In 2019 there are much better screens out there with better processing so buying an Eclipse now for the Panel is not the easiest thing to justify so I can see why some people want the B&O speakers and a non B&O screen. 

Any questions let me know.

John

Hi John 

Thanks for such a detailed explanation of how you made the Almando box work for you. 

You have answered so many questions so I only have one left. 

It's a new build so all of the connections can be wired with cat7, no need for wisa. 

David wrote:

Hi John

Thanks for such a detailed explanation of how you made the Almando box work for you.

You have answered so many questions so I only have one left.

It's a new build so all of the connections can be wired with cat7, no need for wisa.

Bang & Olufsen

From this page do I need the Multiplay Surround Decoder # 1006 €899.00 or the Multiplay Surround Switch # 1003 €699.00?

I have written to Almando before and not received a response. Just wish I could buy a product like this from Bang & Olufsen.

David

Hi everyone,

We'll be live again tomorrow at our usual hour on YouTube, 8pm/7pm/1pm AMS/UK/CST USA.

Thanks to John/Epsilon20 we've got the most comprehensive Almando box review to date in this thread  and dare I say anywhere on the internet. So obviously we'll be talking about that and some other stuff like some construction updates on my new place. As this thread and the podcast itself is very much a community effort, if any of you have any questions what so ever feel free to leave them here on the forum or join us live in the chat. The same goes for topics you'd like us to touch upon and or give our thoughts about.

So we hope to see you all tomorrow live and if not, shortly afterwards(usually about an hour) it'll be up for you to watch at your own leisure!

Michael

In the episode last sunday you were talking about the small ‘display project’, that Christian presented.

I like that sort of thing, too!

Way back, when the Playmaker came out, there was a wish for a version with a display - and the Essence Remote could (?) have been designed with a display.......’

I wondered why you did not mention the display of the BS35 at this occation. I find that nice and have since then wished for a similar ‘standalone’ display.

B&O taking the idea of Christian a step further for a version in a Shape tile could be awesome.

Willie said that he misses some kind of ‘Reference Point’ in his setup to ‘display what is currently playing’

’....when you don’t have a Moment to see what is currently playing’ (quotes from the video)

He talked about ‘the shape of an iPadish idea’.

Here is how I do it - and have been doing it for a while now.

My old IPad Mini has merged into a dedicated ‘app remote’ - it is always on/connected to the mains.

This way I alway see, what is playing - as far as it is possible.

Using Spotify as my main music source, I am informed about the artist, title.......and see the album cover.

Some radio stations present their logo, and some even artist, title...

I can control my main player (my Essence box) there and switch to another, if needed - I can pause/play, skip tracks, expand to another system etc

Ecactly like when using the app on a phone, of course......

......just that it is always there and active!!!

That is my Reference Point in my setup.

Just as an idea for someone with similar needs 😉

Great information on last weeks cast and on here from John about Almando. 

Would be interesting to hear about any experience you have with the other companies who supply and make components designed specifically to work with B&O. 

Here is my list. 

Atlona link

@Miki

Feel free to ‘rip off’ my idea with the iPad Mini.

Actually it’s just a dedicated iPad in a stand 🙂

(Could run in landscape mode, but because of the the connector it’s more practical in portrait mode - and it look better in portrait mode imo).

There is nothing else running there but the Bang Olufsen app.....and - in my case - the Spotify app.

And there is noone in our house messing with that mini-pad.

Hi David,

Can I suggest one more link for your list?

I'm so sorry Steve. Not sure how I managed to miss you from the list having purchased from you many times. 

The advice service and quality of product you offer is amazing, 

Kind regards David